The COS Community C.A.S.E. (Creative Art & Science Exhibit) is on the first floor of Hickory Hall and showcases the scientifically oriented artistic and aesthetic endeavors of UNT's College of Science faculty, staff, students, and alumni. The newest exhibit was installed at the end of April and features work by Dr. Ralf Schmidt (UNT Math), Kelly Basinger (Advanced Environmental Research Institute), Luis Revilla Mata (UNT Biological Sciences), and Rachel Ford (COS Advising).

Rachel Ford is an academic advisor for the College of Science. A UNT alum herself, Rachel graduated from UNT with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Spanish. The digital painting she created especially for the C.A.S.E. was inspired by the variety of fields of study that the College of Science offers our students.

"I wanted to exhibit the beauty of the natural world that our curious scientists endeavor to understand, she said. "I attempted to highlight different aspects of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology within the different jars. The stone background in the piece was influenced by the stone walls we see in Hickory Hall, the home for many of the college's resources.

Dr. Ralf Schmidt, chair of the mathematics department, contributed a large colorful wall poster visualizing a piece of mathematics research, in his words, "the irreducible, admissible representations of the general symplectic group GSp(4) over a non-archimedean local field of characteristic zero." The research presented is in collaboration with Dr. Brooks Roberts from the University of Idaho.

Kelly Basinger, Senior Proposal Manager for AERI, also created a piece specifically for the C.A.S.E. using printed transparencies and test tubes that represent the interdisciplinary research work that takes place in the institute, as well as two other science-inspired artworks.

"I feel excited and passionate when I am able to bring together different teams to work together to combine their research and ideas to get a proposal out," said Kelly when explaining the meaning behind her piece. "These feelings are represented by the lights inside - I feel 'lit up' when all the ideas collide and mingle and come together."

Luis Revilla Mata graduated from UNT with his degree in Ecology in 2021 and now works as the Student and Program Coordinator in the Biological Sciences advising office. He contributed a beautiful photo of a painted bunting that he photographed during a banding session at the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area.

"Encouraging conservation through my bird photography has been my number one goal since I first started doing this," he said. "I hope that these pictures will encourage others to get out there and learn not only about birds but also the importance of conserving our green spaces for all wildlife!"

Located on the first floor of Hickory Hall, the purpose of the C.A.S.E. is to engage the community, inspire creative explorations of the world around us, and encourage public appreciation of art and scientific collaborations. Keep up with us on Facebook or Twitter to keep up with news from the College, including announcements about upcoming open submissions for the C.A.S.E.!